A shiver ran down her spine and across her skin. At her core was a melting sensation as if she softened, ready for his possession.
Yet, kissing him back, her hands tugging him closer, Rosanna didn’t feel weak or overwhelmed. She felt as if she’d met her other half. As if they were designed for each other in some elemental way.
This was how she remembered that night in Scotland. Pure passion, the promise of wonderful things to come, the sense of union between like souls and a sheer carnal arousal such as she’d never known.
Salim lifted his mouth and Rosanna almost cried out in dismay. Except he wasn’t moving away, just giving her a chance to breathe while he peppered kisses to the corner of her lips, her jaw, then the spot just below her ear that made her jerk in his arms and press closer, hunger reaching impossible levels.
‘Salim!’ Was that keening, breathless voice hers?
He said something deep and low in a language she didn’t understand, his lips brushing her neck, his hot breath a caress that sent a quiver of longing through her.
He straightened, glittering eyes holding her in thrall. ‘You want me to stop?’ His voice hit a harsh note.
‘No!’
Rosanna blinked as her instinctive denial sank in. They teetered on the brink of something far bigger than a kiss and they both knew it.
‘I...’
She struggled for something to say. To remember all the reasons this shouldn’t happen. But while her brain was scrambled her body was awake and too, too responsive. Salim drew a deep breath and that movement created friction against her breasts. Her nipples were tight, hard and needy and she wanted him to touch her there.
Rosanna gulped.
Madness, this was madness.
‘Madness or not, it feels right. You can’t deny that.’
Rosanna stared. She’d said it out loud?
‘This is why our search isn’t working,’ he went on, his voice a gravel rumble. ‘Because all I can think about is you, Rosanna.’
The way he said her name, his voice dipping, made something unravel inside her.
Or was it the way he held her, with an easy possessiveness that she shouldn’t like yet revelled in? Then there was the way he looked at her. Gone was that haughty superiority, replaced by searing intensity and an honesty that cut through every common-sense reason to keep her distance.
Or perhaps it was the stunning import of his words.
All I can think about is you.
She soaked that up like a flower absorbing sunshine. Greedily. Delighted to discover she wasn’t alone in this forbidden longing.
‘We can’t,’ she mumbled, her throat closing convulsively as desire waged war with professional ethics. ‘I work for you.’
Salim straightened, his head rearing back, his hold loosening though he didn’t relinquish her. ‘You think I’m pressuring you to—’
Rosanna stopped his words with her fingertips to his mouth. Arousal ran through her at the feel of his lips against her skin. Reluctantly she dragged her hand away. ‘No! Not that. This isn’t harassment. Nothing like it.’
This was utterly consensual and she couldn’t pretend otherwise. ‘But I have a job to do. I have to find you—’
‘At this moment I don’t care about finding a bride.’ His low voice held a savagery she’d never heard before and it sent a thrill through her bones. Never had she felt a man’s need for her like this. Not even the man she’d once planned to marry. ‘All I want, all I’ve wanted for weeks, is you.’
His hands moved, gathering her closer. Rosanna knew she only had to step back and he’d release her. But that act of will was beyond her. She stood trembling not from fear or outrage but from excitement.
What did that say about her?
That you need him just as much as he needs you.
The discovery that their longing was mutual swept away all the arguments she’d used to tell herself there couldn’t be anything between them but a contract of work.